Albania Mission AgainstHuman Trafficking

MARY WARD LORETO is planting hope with a human rights approach to combating modern day slavery. This challenging mission is implemented through works of justice, education, grass roots action and systemic change. The aim is to eradicate poverty, the prime cause for human trafficking.

November Continued……

During the month we welcomed two visitors to Mary Ward Loreto. The first was Sally Keeley from Adelaide, Australia. She is a past pupil of Loreto Adelaide and through her contact with Mary Ward International, Australia, she offered her expertise of working in all aspects of project management with the Australian Government, as a trainer volunteer in Albania. Our first contact with Sally was made nearly a year before this, during which time Sally has worked tirelessly on email and through SKYPE organising six training programmes, with different groups in Albania, connected with Mary ward Loreto. Her training programmes ranged from strategic planning for the next three years, empowering and development work, risk management, monitoring and assessment, project management, project writing and planning and capacity building. The pictures below give a pot pourri of the great work accomplished during the 5 – 6 weeks which Sally spent with us. There is also a hint of fun and sharing culturally between the two countries

Thank You Sally for great work done. Everyone was delighted with the outcome of so much training. It has been a big step forward for all of us.

During this time we also welcomed another visitor, Diane Killian, from the UK, who continued the work, on behalf of the Medaille Trust, with Mary Ward Loreto, to assess in a fuller way how we could partner with them more specifically. This time we focused on the work of Mary Ward’s Women in the south. Di write a very helpful report which included the experience she had of the shelter for trafficked victims run by the NGO Different and Equal. Di became fully involved with the people in all the places she visited and I think that both Sally and Di might come to visit us again!

Below you can see Di fully involved with the children of Saranda.

All the rest of the work of Mary Ward Loreto continued apace with new developments in both the new projects, ‘Think Tank Education Albania’ and ‘URAT’. There seemed to be more requests than normal through our websites, for returnee victims of trafficking from the UK to be supported once they landed in the country of Albania. These requests came from social workers, immigration officers and key workers at asylum centres in the UK. It would seem that there is a huge increase of trafficked victims from Albania being rescued in the UK. We here this also from our partners in the UK who have shelters and who now say that Albanian victims are No 1 in the numbers rescued, even overtaking the women rescued from Nigeria. These requests demand a rapid response, as often we are only given one day’s notice. The victims only know the day before when they are handed their air ticket that they will be deported the next day. They come back traumatised and needing a great deal of help. It is a cruel and harsh reality which they face after they have been rescued from the brutal treatment experienced form the hands of the trafficker and then into care which can quickly be followed by deportation. There is nothing more to be said though we continue to lobby and work for change across borders and through all of our networks.